And in the 85 years ending in 2016, Switzerland’s glaciers lost an area the size of Manhattan every ten years. The before and after pictures are amazing. The analysis, carried out by scientists from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, led to a striking visual contrast between Switzerland’s glaciers today and what they looked like nearly a century ago. Given the high temperatures that covered vast swathes of the northern hemisphere this summer, Daniel Farinotti, a glaciologist and co-author of the study, told CNN he expects this year’s glacier loss to be the worst. “2022 is extreme – not only did we have a very poor winter, but we also had an extremely hot summer and that combination is really the worst case,” Farinotti said. “We expect this year’s losses to be greater than those of 2003, which has so far been the ‘record year’, in the negative sense, for glacier mass loss.” Loss of glaciers causes ecosystem loss in plants and animals. It also affects the appearance of the landscape and affects local tourism. And, most importantly, glaciers are a critical source of fresh water for drinking and agriculture that is disappearing as the ice retreats. “If the glaciers were to disappear completely, different areas could face problems related to water supply – especially during summers like we had and continue to have this year,” Farinotti said. Farinotti said researchers expect to see another 60% loss in glacier mass by the end of the century – even if the world meets the climate targets set by the 2015 Paris Agreement. “If climate change were to continue unabated, we could well end up with the European Alps essentially free of ice,” Farinotti warned.
